Piper: There are lots of things to do in Cape Town. I climbed Table Mountain, went to the Cape of Good Hope, visited a women and children shelter, visited Robben Island… and ate a worm.

Starting our hike up Table Mountain at Kirstenbosch botanical gardens

The First day: Table Mountain Hike

Piper: On my first day at Cape Town we climbed Table Mountain. The hardest part of the hike was the stairs and the heat. I was so tired, I felt like I was dying. My second favorite part of the hike was the ladders. There were six ladders and I climbed them all first! My favorite part of the hike was rock climbing. I was the line leader when we rock climbed. I was the fastest. The biggest problem on the hike was that mommy ran out of water so I was having a hard time because I was really thirsty and had no water to buy.

Sydney: I climbed Table Mountain. I did not like going up the stairs, because it was tiring for my legs. Because there were stairs up most of the mountain. When we got to the rock climbing and ladders it was fun for us to climb up the rocks. It was fun because we could get our minds off climbing up the stairs. I was proud of myself because I only whined once. There was the most amazing view ever of the city of Cape Town from the top. At the top we were hot and mommy didn’t bring enough water so we were so thirsty.

Kirstenbosch botanical gardens in Beautiful Capetown, SA!

Kirstenbosch botanical gardens in Beautiful Capetown, SA!

Kirstenbosch botanical gardens in Beautiful Capetown, SA!

Kirstenbosch botanical gardens in Beautiful Capetown, SA!

Kirstenbosch botanical gardens in Beautiful Capetown, SA!

The long hike up Table Mountain… Capetown.

The long hike up Table Mountain… Capetown.

Kirstenbosch botanical gardens in Beautiful Capetown, SA!

The long hike up Table Mountain… Capetown.

The long hike up Table Mountain… Capetown.

The long hike up Table Mountain… Capetown.

The long hike up Table Mountain… Capetown.

The long hike up Table Mountain… Capetown.

The long hike up Table Mountain… Capetown.

At the top of Table Mountain… but one hour of hiking to get to the cable car and food/water…

The top of Table Mountain! We made it! (in 4 hours!)

The top of Table Mountain! We made it! (in 4 hours!)

The top of Table Mountain! We made it! (in 4 hours!)

The top of Table Mountain! We made it! (in 4 hours!)

The top of Table Mountain! We made it! (in 4 hours!)

Cable car down from Table Mountain, Capetown

Second day: Penguins, Ostriches and Cape of Good Hope

Sydney: We drove to the southern part of Africa so we could see one of the only places outside of Antarctica that there are wild penguins. The penguins were black and white. They are like identical. The only way that you can tell that they are boy or girl is if they are mating. The boy is on top. We saw penguins mating. We saw a penguin making a hole and kicking sand at another penguin. I was really excited to see penguins because it is one of the only places that you can see wild penguins

Piper: On my second day in Cape Town I saw penguins in the wild. They were so cute. I felt so happy that the baby penguins had a nice home. After the penguins, we saw the Cape of Good Hope. The Cape of Good Hope is the most southern part of Africa. On the way down from the light house we saw a wild ostrich. It was a really long drive back to the ship.

The shops at V&A Waterfront .. Capetown, SA!

Camps Bay, outside Capetown.

Lunch at Houts Bay on the way to the Cape of Good Hope

Driving to Cape of Good Hope

African Penguins at Boulder Beach, SA

African Penguins at Boulder Beach, SA

African Penguins at Boulder Beach, SA

African Penguins at Boulder Beach, SA

African Penguins at Boulder Beach, SA

African Penguins at Boulder Beach, SA

African Penguins at Boulder Beach, SA

African Penguins at Boulder Beach, SA

Beautiful Capetown, SA!

Cape of Good Hope, South Africa

Cape of Good Hope, South Africa

Cape of Good Hope, South Africa

Along the road from Capetown to Cape of Good Hope

Sunset over the road to Cape of Good Hope

Sunset over the road to Cape of Good Hope

Sunset over the road to Cape of Good Hope

Mommy’s birthday!

Piper: The third day in Cape Town was Mommy’s birthday. I gave her Blankey and a chocolate for a present. The worst part of the day was when I ate mopane worms! On my third one l barfed. After that I was feeling sick.😩😖 Then we had lunch at a winery and dinner at Mzani a restaurant in a township. We ate African food. It was yummy. At dinner we made a sand painting and played instruments . We even bought a sand panting of instruments.

Sydney: I gave mommy a elephant birthday sign, pottery bowl, some candy and a bracelet. Mommy got a huge birthday hug from me, Piper, Alexander and Daddy. Mommy got the best snuggle time ever. She had a great time on her birthday.

THE TASTE OF MOPANE WORMS: We got mopane worms at the market. They do not taste good at all. We ate three, because we would get our own ice cream. If we ate one we would not get anything, if we ate two we would share a ice cream and if I ate three I would get my own. I wanted my own ice cream. Do not try them even if they look good. They are bad. Piper spit up on her third one. But mommy still let her have her own ice cream.

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LUNCH AT THE WINERY: The winery is a beautiful place, if you ever go to Cape town you should go to the winery. there was a wide play area that we played soccer. There were two playgrounds that we played on. I was happy that there were playgrounds to play on. There was an amazing setting. All grassy area and a beautiful pond. I got the best ham and cheese croissant lunch. Mommy and daddy loved some of the wine and bought four bottles. It was just an amazing place.

DINNER AT MZANI: Mzani is in a township. A township is a place where all the blacks went when the blacks were segregated during apartheid. They had amazing African food. We got to try African instruments and see people play them. They were great at it. We saw somebody do a sand painting for us. We bought one sand painting from that guy. And he gave us kids 3 samples to take home too.

Off to Stellenbosch for Kristina’s birthday lunch!

Gourmet picnic/birthday lunch at Warwick winery, Stellenbosch, SA

Gourmet picnic/birthday lunch at Warwick winery, Stellenbosch, SA

Gourmet picnic/birthday lunch at Warwick winery, Stellenbosch, SA

Gourmet picnic/birthday lunch at Warwick winery, Stellenbosch, SA

Gourmet picnic/birthday lunch at Warwick winery, Stellenbosch, SA

Birthday dinner at Mzansi restaurant, Langa Township, Capetown

Birthday dinner at Mzansi restaurant, Langa Township, Capetown

Khayelitsha township: Lunch at Lelapa, Art at Mzansi

Fourth day: Township visits

Piper: On the fourth day in Cape Town we visited a women and children shelter in a township. I felt sad because those people had to live there. A township is a place where people who had darker skin had to live before Nelson Mandela took action. The houses were shacks. People still live there. I don’t like thinking about it. It makes me feel sad.😭😩. I also visited a pre-school in the township and took pictures of the children and gave them the pictures to keep. Seeing the kids so happy made me feel better.

Service project at Illitha school… Khayelitsha township, Capetown

Sydney: CHILDREN’S SHELTER: The children’s shelter is to protect children from bad adults (sometimes people they know) having sex with them. We saw a couple kids. We got to go in one of the safe houses for the moms and kids. The kids loved to get their picture taken. Megan took a couple of those kids on her camera. We had lunch there. It was a good lunch. The lunch was some chicken and vegetables.

VISITING A PRE SCHOOL IN A TOWN SHIP: We visited a pre-school in a township. We got to interact with the kids. We made a lot of friends. We had fun playing with them. We took their picture and gave it to them because they probably don’t have a picture of themselves. We handed out toothbrushes to the kids. We had a lot of fun with the kids.

Service project at Christine Revell Children’s home, Capetown

Visiting Khayelitsha township, Capetown

Visiting Khayelitsha township, Capetown

Visiting Khayelitsha township, Capetown

Visiting Khayelitsha township, Capetown

Visiting Khayelitsha township, Capetown

Service project at Illitha school… Khayelitsha township, Capetown

Service project at Illitha school… Khayelitsha township, Capetown

Visiting Khayelitsha township, Capetown

Visiting Khayelitsha township, Capetown

Service project at Illitha school… Khayelitsha township, Capetown

Service project at Illitha school… Khayelitsha township, Capetown

Visiting Khayelitsha township, Capetown

Fifth day: Robben Island

Piper: On my last day in Cape Town we went on an excursion and saw some pretty colored houses, Signal Hill with paragliders, had lunch in a township, and then we visited Robben Island. It was very similar to Alcatraz, the island prison we visited in San Francisco. On Robben Island I saw where Nelson Mandela was in prison for 19 years. I got a tour of Robben island and I felt sad because Nelson Mandela was in prison for 19 years.

Sydney: We went to Nelson Mandala’s prison cell. It is small. If a prisoner escaped the great white sharks in the water. would eat him. We got to meet a prisoner. Later in life Mandela was the first black president of Africa. They did not have a bathroom in their cell. They would not go to the bathroom. The island was a lot bigger than Alcatraz. I was expecting it to be smaller. There were some animals on the island.

Visiting historic Robben Island, Capetown

Visiting historic Robben Island, Capetown

Visiting historic Robben Island, Capetown

Visiting historic Robben Island, Capetown

Hearing from an ex-prisoner on Robben Island

Nelson Mandela’s prison cell on Robben Island, SA

Nelson Mandela’s prison cell on Robben Island, SA

Visiting historic Robben Island, Capetown

Goodbye, Capetown

Piper: I hope you liked reading my journal and hearing about my trip to Cape Town and knowing what I did. I really liked Cape Town. You should go there some time and eat mopane worms, but only one! 😉

Loved your coverage of Cape Town, you must be gaining a ton of muscle and your picture coverage is wonderful, are you letting your Dad use the camera a little bet? I’M thinking you could have made the trip with Lewis and Clark without any trouble because you have been training really hard, have you thanked your Mom and Dad lately for a trip that you will likely never take again. Sure looking forward to seeing you in 3 weeks. Keep up the good work, and Grandma & I will make sure you always get your own ice-cream and you will not have to eat a worm or a grasshopper. Love You,Papa

You are so lucky to do and see all this!! I’m proud of you , Sydney, for only whining once! And I am proud of Piper for thinking about those people who are so poor. It’s hard for me to see that too. You are having a trip of a lifetime!!! We are in Barcelona….soon we will be with you. 😊